Breathing to Sing
Breathing seems like the easiest thing in the world to most people - you don’t even have to think about it! As a singer, however, I spend a lot of time teaching others how to breathe. That sounds crazy, I know…if you’re alive then you obviously know how to breathe. What some people don’t know is that breathing to sing is a very different, much more demanding process than breathing to exist.
In order to breathe to sing, one must know how breath and sound production work. When a person breathes, the muscle just above the belly button (the diaphragm) contracts, creating a vacuum and pulling in air; the muscle then relaxes and the air is pushed back out. Of course, this is a very simplified explanation of respiration, but it is important to know. When you create sound, it is through the contraction of the muscles surrounding the vocal folds and air passing through the folds causing the folds to vibrate the air passing between them.
A shallow breath before attempting to sing can cause a myriad of issues with the sound. First, the sounds will not be as supported as it should. This causes the singer to fatigue faster and makes phrasing difficult, if not impossible. You know the stressed, pinched sound when you try to speak while holding your breath and running out of air? That is what singers sound like if they do not take a deep enough breath. To get a full, supported sound, a singer must expand their diaphragm as much as possible, breathing in as low and full as they can - I call these “belly breaths” because the belly expands immensely when correctly breathing for supported singing. Secondly, shallow breathing can cause the shoulders to tense up and move towards the ears, and any upper body tension can creep into the neck and make singing even more difficult.
Breathing for singing must also be much more controlled than breathing to speak or to simply exist. Without a controlled stream of air, the sound can come across as “breathy” or “airy,” meaning excess air is passing through the cords due to a lack of breath control. Excess air causes extra friction on the vocal folds, which can make the voice become hoarse and, over time, cause vocal injury.
A few exercises I use with my students to increase breath support and control are as follows - give one a try today if you want to check in with your breathing! Even if you aren’t a singer, try breathing deeply for a few minutes and you will feel more centered and relaxed.
Floor breaths. I have my students lay on the floor and place an object with some weight on their belly button (nothing too heavy, a book or water bottle works great). They then start taking deep breaths as if they were about to sing. While keeping the head planted firmly on the floor, they move their eyes to see if they can see the object on their stomach moving up and down. If they cannot see the object on their inhales, they are not breathing deeply enough.
Hissing. I will have my student place an index finger in front of their mouth, about and inch away from the lips. They then breathe in nice and low, then hiss for as long as possible. The idea is to control the stream of air that they feel on the finger to increase awareness and control of breath usage.
Inhale-Hold-Exhale. Yes, that’s what I call it. No, I am not more creative than that. In this exercise, the student is to inhale for a count of 6 (seconds are a good guide, but they can count slower if they would like), hold the breath for the count of 6, then exhale on a count of 6. The goal is to keep the stream of air consistent on the way in AND out. Once they master that count, they up it to 8, then 10, and so on.
Breathing to sing is more challenging than most people realize, but it is something that anyone can learn! It is great for singing and also for mental health. I will write a blog in the future highlighting how it helps the central nervous system, but for now, trust me - it does! Give these exercises a try and let me know how you feel after!